Levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in marine gastropod Hexaplex trunculus: Compliance with European Union legislation

•PCBs including indicator and dioxin-like congeners were measured in H. trunculus.•Samples were collected in selected industrialised areas of the Mediterranean Sea.•Not all the samples examined were compliant with European Union legislation.

PCBs including “indicator” and “dioxin-like” congeners were measured in a marine gastropod, Hexaplex trunculus, from Mediterranean areas exposed to anthropogenic pressure, to evaluate their compliance with European Union (EU) legislation. Total PCB concentrations showed location-dependent variation, and were higher in samples from Ionian Sea-Taranto (1001 ng g−1 lipid weight) compared with those from Adriatic Sea-Bari (519 ng g−1 lipid weight) and Adriatic-Sea-Brindisi (253 ng g−1 lipid weight). All sample concentrations were compliant with EU regulation limits for the sum of six “indicator” PCBs (Ionian Sea-Taranto: 40.7 ng g−1 wet weight; Adriatic Sea-Bari: 24.0 ng g−1 wet weight; Adriatic Sea-Brindisi: 11.0 ng g−1 wet weight). Also “dioxin-like” PCBs content expressed as toxic equivalent (TEQ) values, in samples from Adriatic Sea (Adriatic Sea-Bari: 2.48 pg WHO-TEQ/g wet weight; Adriatic Sea-Brindisi: 2.14 pg WHO-TEQ/g wet weight), were below the limit, while the specimens from the Ionian Sea (Ionian Sea-Taranto: 3.53 pg WHO-TEQ/g wet weight) showed levels exceeding the maximum threshold.